COUNCIL OF MINISTERS REGULATION NO. 37/1998
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS REGULATION TO
PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF FREIGHT
FORWARDING AND SHIP AGENCY LICENCE

These Regulation are issued by the council of Ministers pursuant to Article 5 of the Definition of powers and Duties of the Executive Organs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Proclamation No. 4/1995 and Article 47 of the Commercial Registration and Business Licensing Proclamation No. 67/1997.

1. Short Title
These Regulations may be cited as the “Freight Forwarding sand ship Agency License Issuance Council of Ministers Regulations No. 37/1998.”

2. Definitions
In these Regulations:
1. “Freight Forwarding” means the representation of a consignor or consignee locally or internationally in fulfilling customs, port and other formalities for import and export cargo at port and includes the transportation and delivery of same;
2. “Freight Forwarder” means a person who is licensed under these Regulations to carry out freight forwarding;
3. “Port” means the area or place to be designated by the Federal Revenues Board as such;
4. “customs Clearance” means a process of fulfilling customs’ formalities for import and export cargo on behalf of consignor or consignee within customs station;
5. “Customs formalities” means any customs operations carried out in connection with importation, exportation or transit of goods from the time of arrival at the customs port until released from the customs control;
6. “Port Clearance” means a process of fulfilling port’s formalities for import and export cargo on behalf of consignor or consignee within port area until the import cargo is brought out from the port or the export cargo is loaded onto the ship;
7. “Groupage/Consolidation” means the grouping together of several compatible consignments into a full container load;
8. “Person” means any natural or juridical person;
9. “Protective Agency” means the representation of a shipowner to protect a shipowner’s interest and to supervise the work carried out by the ship’s agent when the owner’s ship is in port;
10. “Ship” means any kind of floating object used for maritime transport and includes vessel;
11. “Shipping Agency” means the representation of an owner, charterer or operator of a ship in canvassing and booking cargo or passenger and providing services to the ship inland and at port as necessary and includes the coordination of stevedoring and shore handling services;
12. “Shipping Agent” means a person who is licensed under these Regulations to carry out shipping agency;
13. “Licence” means a business license issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to carry out freight forwarding and/or shipping agency;
14. “Foreign Trade Auxiliary” means Commercial Agents, Commercial Brokers and Commission Agents as defined under Articles 44-62 of the Commercial code.

3. The Function of the Freight Forwarder
The functions of the fright forwarder include the following;
1. Port clearance;
2. Customs clearance;
3. Group age/consolidation;
4. Warehousing and delivery services;
5. Cargo handling equipment services;
6. Transport services, where the frights forwarder provides such services himself;
7. Transport the cargo using other transporters, where himself or cargo owner do not have transport services;
8. Fumigation services;
9. Packing services;
10. Preparation and issuance of relevant documents;
11. Compliance with foreign trade regulation and letter of credit instructions;
12. Choice of the most suitable carrier and conclusion of the contract of carriage;
13. Follow up movement of cargo;
14. Consultancy services in freight forwarding.

4. The Functions of the Shipping Agency
The functions of the shipping agency include the following:
1. Contact various ship owners and obtain advance information of sailing schedule of cargo discharging and loading vessels;
2. Prepare daily fleet position and distribute to shippers and importers;
3. Provide cargo canvassing, booking and coordination services;
4. Organize the arrival and departure arrangements of ships and ensure that the country’s foreign trade cargo be transported by sea-worthy vessels;
5. Follow that export goods have arrived at port before arrival of loading vessel and ascertain that the goods are properly loaded;
6. Notify importers of the arrival of their goods to effect delivery;
7. Assist the appropriate bodies in order to avoid or minimize congestion of port and delay of services;
8. Assist in chartering sea-worthy ships;
9. Collect freight, prepare statement of account and disbursement account;
10. Coordinate stevedore and provide cargo super-interdependency services;
11. Provide or arrange ships husbandry services like provision of food, water, and the like, to the ship;
12. Provide crew change and repatriation services;
13. Issue bill of lading, delivery order and prepare other shipping documents;
14. Facilitate settlement of claim by cargo owners;
15. Provide protective agency services;
16. Monitor movements of containers.

5. Requirement of License
1. A person may perform the business of freight forwarding and/or shipping agency services only upon acquiring a license pursuant to these Regulations.
2. A person who has been rendering shipping agency services and freight forwarding services under Foreign Trade Auxiliary license may not continue providing said services unless he obtains license under these Regulations.
3. A person who acquires the license as freight forwarder under these Regulations is deemed to have acquired customs clearance license.

6. Requirements for Obtaining License
1. For freight forwarding or shipping agency licence, the applicant shall have:
a. Ethiopian nationality or be a person from a country having the relevant reciprocal agreement with Ethiopia;
b. A minimum capital of Birr:
1,500,000 (one million and five hundred thousand) for freight forwarding agency;
1,000,000 (one million) for shipping agency;
2,200,000 (two million and two hundred thousand) for both agency services;
c. Himself the qualification or qualified personnel with the knowledge and experience in international transport particularly shipping, as evidenced by certificate of competency issued by the Ministry of Transport and Communications;
d. An office equipped with telephone, fax, telex and other relevant modern facilities;
e. Submit Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association, if it is a company.
2. The applicant for freight forwarding in addition to the certificate mentioned in sub-Article (1)(c) of this Article, shall submit a certificate of competence from the customs Authority to carry out customs clearing activity.
3. The applicant already with a licence for customs clearing is not required to submit the said certificate of competence.

7. Responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Communications
1. The Ministry shall issue directives with regard to the requirements set in Article 6 sub-Article (1)(c) here-in-above.
2. The applicant shall be issued with the certificate of competence where he fulfils the requirements under Article 6 sub-Article (1)(c) of these regulations.

8. Responsibility of the Ministry of Trade and Industry
The Ministry shall issue the licence for shipping or freight forwarding agency upon fulfilment of the requirements under Article 6 here-in-above.

9. Responsibility of the customs Authority
The Customs Authority shall issue the certificate of competence of customs clearing agent, regarding freight forwarding, pursuant to sub-Article (1)(c) of Article 5 of the Council of Ministers Regulations No. 155/1994.

10. Responsibility of the National Bank of Ethiopia
1. The issuance of bill of lading under Article 4(13) is subject to the directives to be issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia.
2. The National Bank of Ethiopia shall also issue directives with respect to the control of foreign currency transactions by the freight forwarding and shipping agency services.

11. Suspension and Cancellation of Certificates of competence
Where the freight forwarder or the shipping agent fails to abide by the rules and conduct of the trade, the authority that issued the certificate(s) of competence may suspend or cancel the certificate(s) and same shall be made known to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

12. Liability of the Freight Forwarder or the Shipping Agent
1. The Freight Forwarder or the shipping Agent shall carry out his duties with due diligence.
2. He shall be liable for defaults in the performance of his duties, in particular he shall be liable for loss of or shortage of or damage to the goods or delay in delivery of the goods.

13. Applicability of other Laws
Commercial Registration and Business Licensing Proclamation N0. 67/1997; the Re-establishment and Modernization of customs Authority proclamation No. 60/1997 and other relevant laws shall be, mutatis mutandis, applicable to matters provided for in these regulations.

14. Effective Date
These Regulations shall come into force as of the 19th day of June, 1998.

Done at Addis Ababa, this 19th day of June, 1998.
MELES ZENAWI
PRIME MINISTER OF THE FEDERAL
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA